Listen live

Byron surf-school tender trouble

The Byron Shire Council says an independent person will review the tendering process it used to allocate surf-school licences.

Byron Bay operator Jayme Edwards says factors such as safety and local knowledge were not given proper consideration.

He says the new system gives undue weight to the annual fees offered by potential operators.

Mr Edwards says the council is virtually auctioning off the four available licences, and he's lost his livelihood for the sake of a few dollars.

"Price is a big reason I feel that I was unsuccessful," he said.

"Because with the new scoring system you've got 10 out of 10 for a large amount of money and zero out of zero for a small amount of money, and this fee was assessed completely differently from the other selection criterior.

"The highest amount of money that was offered was $13,750.

"The second amount was $7000, so half that amount, then we had $5,500 and $4050 was the one score that beat me.

"For the sake of $50 and the fact that there's only four licences in the Byron Shire, I've lost my licence of 18 years."